Advanced Setup
Stop!
This Rules Reference does not teach players how to play Fury of
Dracula. It is recommended that players first read the Learn to
Play booklet, and then use this Rules Reference while playing the
game to answer rule questions as they arise.
After players have finished their first game of Fury of
Dracula, they are ready to play the advanced game. To set
up an advanced game, players perform the following steps:
1.
2.
3.
Using This Reference
This document is a reference for all game rules. Unlike
the Learn to Play booklet, this document does not teach
players how to play the game. It is recommended that players first read
the Learn to Play booklet and then consult this reference as question
arise during the game. This document contains a glossary, which lists
detailed rules and card clarifications in alphabetical order by topic.
4.
5.
6.
The Golden Rules
The golden rules are fundamental concepts on which all other
game rules are built.
†† This Rules Reference is the definitive source of rules
information. If something in the Rules Reference
contradicts the Learn to Play booklet, this document takes
precedence.
†† If the rules text of a card or game component contradicts
information from the Rules Reference, the componentspecific rules text takes precedence.
7.
8.
†† If a card effect uses the word “cannot,” that effect cannot
be overridden by other game effects.
†† If an effect uses the word “may,” that effect is optional.
9.
Place Game Board: Unfold the game board and place it in
the center of the play area within reach of all players.
Set Influence Track: Place the influence marker on space
“0” of the influence track.
Set Time Track: Place the time marker on the Monday day
space on the time track.
Assign Roles: One player chooses to control Dracula; he
should sit near the side of the board showing the trail. The
remaining players each choose a hunter to control. Each
player takes a character sheet and figure, each hunter takes
one hunter reference card, and Dracula takes the
reference map.
Prepare Hunter Cards: Shuffle all item cards and place
them facedown near the game board. Then, shuffle both the
hunter and Dracula event cards together into a single deck
and place it near the item deck. Sort the hunter combat cards
by type and place them in three distinct piles near the item
deck.
Prepare Dracula’s Components: Sort the encounter
cards and Dracula combat cards into two separate decks
and individually shuffle them. Place these decks facedown
near Dracula’s side of the game board. Then, organize the
location cards numerically and stack them on top of Dracula’s
power cards to create his location deck. Place this deck near
Dracula’s encounter and combat card decks.
Create Token Pool: Place the ticket tokens facedown near
the game board and randomize them. Then, separate the
remaining tokens by type and place them in piles near the
game board.
Draw Encounter Cards and Gain Rumor Token:
Dracula draws five encounter cards for his starting hand.
Then, Dracula takes one rumor token from the token pool
and places it in his play area.
Choose Hunter Starting Locations: Each hunter places
his figures on one of the cities on the map.
10. Choose Dracula’s Starting Location: Dracula chooses
a starting location. Instead of placing his figure on the game
board, he secretly searches his location deck for the card
matching the location where he wishes to start. Then, he
places that card facedown on the first space on the trail.
Dracula cannot choose a sea zone, Castle Dracula, or a city
that a hunter occupies as his starting location. After placing a
location card, Dracula places his figure on the red circle near
the first space on the trail.
2
Glossary
This glossary lists all gameplay terms and rules in detail.
If you are unable to find a topic in this glossary, check the
index on page 15.
Abilities
Each character sheet contains two or more abilities. Some of these
abilities enhance specific actions, some of them provide persistent
effects, and some of them can be used as part of a special action.
Adjacency
If a city is connected to another city by one road, those cities are
adjacent to each other. If a sea zone shares a border with another sea
zone, those sea zones are adjacent.
†† A sea zone that has an anchor icon is adjacent to the port that is
near that icon.
†† Railway connections do not affect adjacency.
†† Roadblock tokens block movement, but do not affect adjacency.
Related Topics: Actions
Related Topics: Movement
Actions
Allies
During the hunter phase, each hunter performs one action during the
day and one action during the night.
Some event cards have “Ally” effects, which allow them to be played as
allies. Allies provide either the hunters or Dracula with unique abilities.
†† During each day and each night, hunters perform actions in
†† When an event card is played as an ally, it remains in play and
†† Hunters can only perform move actions during the day.
†† When a hunter plays an event card as an ally, he places it
activation order.
†† If a hunter is in a sea zone during the day, he must move by
sea—he cannot pass.
†† If a hunter is in a sea zone during the night, he must pass—he
cannot perform an action.
†† If a hunter is delayed, he must stand his figure upright instead
of performing an action.
†† A hunter can forfeit his action by passing.
Related Topics: Movement, Reserve a Ticket, Search, Supply, Trade
Activation Order
During the hunter phase, the hunters perform actions in activation
order. Each character sheet has its activation order number printed in
the upper-left corner. The activation order is as follows:
provides an ongoing effect.
faceup on the ally slot on the board. When Dracula plays an
event card as an ally, he places it faceup in his play area.
†† The hunters can collectively have only one ally in play at a
time. If there is already a hunter ally in play and a hunter plays
another event for its ally effect, the new ally replaces the existing
one, which is discarded.
†† Dracula can have only one ally in play at a time. If there is
already a Dracula ally in play and he plays another event for
its ally effect, the new ally replaces the existing one, which is
discarded.
Related Topics: Event Cards
Ambush
Dracula can ambush hunters to resolve effects on his encounter cards
that are in hideouts or lairs.
1.
Lord Godalming
2.
Dr. Seward
3.
Van Helsing
After a hunter is moved to a hideout or lair, Dracula reveals the
location card in that hideout or lair. Then, Dracula can then choose an
encounter card in that hideout or lair to ambush with. He reveals the
card and resolves the text on that encounter card, ignoring any mature
effect.
4.
Mina Harker
†† Dracula may ambush with an encounter card that is already
Related Topics: Actions
revealed.
†† If a game effect moves a hunter to a location that is a hideout
or lair, Dracula can ambush that hunter.
†† After resolving the encounter card’s effect, Dracula must
discard that card unless it specifies otherwise.
†† If there are two or more encounter cards in a hideout or lair,
Dracula may ambush the same hunter multiple times (once for
each card) in the order of his choice.
Related Topics: Encounter Cards, Hideouts, Lairs, Maturing
3
Banners
Cancel
Banners appear along the left side of hunter combat cards and some
item cards. Cards with a banner are used during combat.
Some game effects cancel cards.
†† During combat, when a hunter chooses a card from his hand,
he must choose a card that has a banner.
†† Each banner shows one or more combat icons, highlighted in
white. Combat icons on the banner cancel Dracula’s combat
cards as explained in the “Combat” section.
†† “Punch,” “Dodge,” and “Escape” have a yellow banner to
identify them as combat cards. These cards are not items, they
cannot be discarded, and they do not count against a hunter’s
hand limit for item cards.
†† Item cards that have a red-colored banner can be used during
combat.
ignored and that card is discarded.
†† When a combat card is canceled, the effects on that card are
ignored and that card is flipped facedown and remains in the
play area.
Related Topics: Combat, Event Cards
Castle Dracula
Castle Dracula is a location on the board.
†† The location card for Castle Dracula has a unique card back so
hunters will know when Dracula has moved to Castle Dracula.
Related Topics: Combat
†† When Dracula places the “Castle Dracula” card on the trail
Bats Token
†† Both Dracula and the hunters can move to Castle Dracula.
Dracula’s “Bats” encounter card allows him to place one bats token
under a hunter’s figure on the board.
†† A hunter cannot perform a supply action or a reserve a ticket
†† The bats token functions as a reminder that Dracula can move
that hunter to an adjacent city during that hunter’s next action.
†† When Dracula moves a hunter using his “Bats” card, he moves
that hunter instead of the hunter performing his action as
normal.
»» If a hunter has a bats token underneath his figure and he is
delayed, that hunter stands his figure upright during his next
action as normal. Then, Dracula moves the hunter to an
adjacent city during the hunter’s next action after he is no
longer delayed.
»» If a hunter has a bats token underneath his figure and he
cannot move because he is on a city that has one or more fog
tokens, Dracula moves the hunter to an adjacent city during
the hunter’s next action during which that hunter can move.
Related Topics: Encounter Cards, Fog Tokens, Movement
Bitten
Hunters can be bitten either during combat or from the “Seduction”
event card.
†† When a hunter is bitten, he gains a bite token by taking one bite
token from the supply and placing it on an empty bite space on
his character sheet.
†† While a hunter has one or more bite tokens, he is weakened.
†† If a hunter is bitten and has no empty bite spaces on his
character sheet, he is defeated.
Related Topics: Combat, Defeated, Weakened
4
†† When an event card is canceled, the effects on that card are
during his movement step, he recovers five damage.
action while he is on Castle Dracula.
Related Topics: Damage, Locations
Combat
A hunter can participate in combat with either Dracula or Dracula’s
vampires. If a hunter defeats Dracula in combat, the hunters win the
game. If a hunter defeats a vampire in combat, that hunter can prevent
Dracula from resolving the mature effect of vampires and advancing
the influence track.
†† If a hunter is on Dracula’s current location during dawn or
dusk, he must start a combat with Dracula.
»» If combat is at dusk or night, Dracula resolves the “at night”
effects of his combat cards.
†† If an encounter card instructs a hunter to “fight this vampire,”
he starts a combat with that vampire.
†† Combat with a vampire encounter can occur when either a
hunter resolves a search action or Dracula ambushes a hunter.
»» Combat with an “Aggressive Vampire” can only occur with
one hunter while combat with a “New Vampire” can occur
with multiple hunters in the same location if other hunters at
that location become delayed.
Combat is played over a series of rounds. Each round occurs in this
order:
Consecrated Ground
1. Choose Combat Cards: Each player in the combat chooses one
card from his hand, placing it facedown.
The “Consecrated Ground” event card places consecrated ground and
heavenly host tokens on cities.
†† Dracula must choose one of his combat cards.
†† The hunters must choose one of their cards that has a banner.
This includes item cards with a red banner or combat cards
(“Punch,” “Dodge,” and “Escape”) with a yellow banner.
2. Choose Engaged Hunter: Dracula chooses one of the hunters in
the combat to become the engaged hunter. If there is only one hunter
in the combat, he is the engaged hunter.
3. Reveal Combat Cards: All characters in the combat
simultaneously flip their chosen cards faceup.
4. Compare Combat Icons: Check if the combat icon on Dracula’s
revealed card matches a highlighted combat icon on the banner of
the engaged hunter’s revealed card. If it does, the effect on Dracula’s
revealed combat card is canceled, and combat proceeds to step 6.
Otherwise, combat proceeds to step 5.
5. Resolve Dracula’s Effect: If Dracula’s revealed combat card was
not canceled (see step 4), Dracula resolves the effect of his revealed
combat card. Then, he flips that card facedown and it remains in the
play area.
†† Dracula cannot enter a city that has a consecrated ground or
heavenly host token.
†† If Dracula’s current location has either a consecrated ground
or heavenly host token, he cannot play “Feed,” “Dark Call,” or
“Hide.”
†† When using “Wolf Form,” Dracula cannot choose a location
that would require using roads that connect to a city with either
a consecrated ground or heavenly host token.
†† At the end of the next dawn after a heavenly host token is
played, discard all heavenly host tokens. Consecrated ground
tokens remain on the board until discarded by a card effect.
Related Topics: Event Cards, Power Cards
Damage
Dracula, hunters, and vampires suffer damage primarily during combat,
but they can also suffer damage through other game effects.
†† After Dracula resolves the effect on an “Escape as Bat” or
†† When a character suffers damage, he takes a number of
†† If all hunters in the combat are defeated after Dracula resolves his
†† When a character recovers damage, he removes a number of
“Escape as Mist” card, the fight immediately ends. Note that
the “Pride” ability on Dracula’s character sheet restricts when
he can resolve these cards­—see “Escape as Bat” and “Escape as
Mist” sections for more information.
revealed card’s effect, the combat immediately ends.
6. Resolve Hunter’s Effect: Each hunter in the combat resolves the
effect of his revealed card.
†† If an effect on one of the hunters’ revealed cards defeats
Dracula, the hunters immediately win the game.
†† If a hunter’s card is canceled, it is flipped facedown and not
resolved.
7. Check Combat Status: If Dracula has played six combat cards,
the combat ends immediately.
8. Refresh Hands: Dracula and the hunters each refresh their hands
and then begin a new combat round.
†† Dracula draws the top card from his combat deck and places it
in his hand.
†† Combat cards played during this round remain in front of the
hunter who played it.
damage tokens from the supply equal to the amount of damage
suffered and places them on his character sheet. When a
vampire from an encounter card suffers damage, its damage
tokens are placed on its encounter card instead.
damage tokens from his character sheet equal to the amount of
damage healed and returns them to the supply. When a vampire
from an encounter card recovers damage, its damage tokens are
removed from its encounter card instead.
†† If there are number of damage tokens on a character sheet
equal to that character’s health value, that character is defeated.
When a vampire from an encounter card has a number
of damage tokens equal to its health value, that vampire is
defeated and the encounter card is discarded.
†† Some item, combat, and event cards instruct a “vampire” to
suffer damage. If Dracula is in a combat, “vampire” refers to
Dracula. If a vampire from an encounter card is in a combat,
“vampire” refers to that vampire.
†† Damage tokens that are marked with a “5” represent five single
damage tokens. Players may swap a “5” token for five single
tokens or five single tokens for a “5” token at any time.
Related Topics: Combat, Defeated, Vampire Encounters
†† Hunter’s combat cards played during the previous round are
returned to their owner’s hand.
Related Topics: Ambush, Banners, Damage, Defeated, Search,
Vampire Encounters, Winning the Game
5
Dark Call
“Dark Call” is one of Dracula’s power cards.
When “Dark Call” is placed on the trail, Dracula suffers two damage
and draws five encounter cards.
†† Since Dracula does not have a maximum hand limit, Dracula
does not discard encounter cards after playing “Dark Call.”
†† “Dark Call” is placed on the trail instead of choosing a
location card.
†† Encounter cards cannot be placed on “Dark Call.”
†† While Dracula’s current location is a sea zone, he cannot play
“Dark Call.”
Related Topics: Power Cards, The Trail
Dawn and Dusk
Dawn occurs before day, and dusk occurs before night.
†† When a hunter is defeated, he determines the nearest
hospital—the one that is the fewest roads away from his current
location. Then, that hunter’s figure is removed from the board.
»» If multiple hospitals are tied for the being the nearest to the
location where a hunter was defeated, Dracula chooses on
which of those hospitals to place the hunter.
»» The nearest hospital for hunters who are defeated in
Brittanica is in Madrid, and the nearest hospital for hunters
who are defeated in Caglairi is in Rome.
†† When a vampire from an encounter card is defeated, the
encounter card is discarded.
†† During the next dawn after a hunter is defeated, place the
hunter at the nearest hospital.
†† When a hunter is placed at a hospital after being defeated, he
removes all damage tokens and bite tokens from his character
sheet and discards all of his item and event cards.
Related Topics: Bitten, Combat, Damage, Hospitals, Regions,
Winning the Game
†† At dawn, the time marker is advanced from its current night
Delayed
†† At dusk, the time marker is advanced from its current day space
Some game effects can cause a hunter to become delayed. When a
hunter becomes delayed, that hunter’s figure is placed on its side.
space to the next day space.
to the next night space.
†† When the time marker advances from Sunday night to Monday
day, place one despair token on the space in the center of the time
track. Also, Dracula gains one rumor token.
†† There are event cards that can be played during dawn or dusk.
If a character chooses to play one of these cards, he does so
after the time marker is advanced.
†† If one or more hunters are in the same location as Dracula
during dawn or dusk, a combat occurs after the time marker is
advanced.
†† A delayed hunter must stand his figure upright instead of
performing his next action. Then, he is no longer delayed.
†† If a delayed hunter is on Dracula’s current location, he
participates in the combat.
†† If a delayed hunter would become delayed again, there is no
effect.
†† If a card effect allows a hunter to choose to become delayed, a
delayed hunter cannot choose to resolve that effect.
Related Topics: Combat, Despair Tokens, Rumor Tokens
Related Topics: Actions
Defeated
Despair Tokens
Dracula, hunters, and vampires can be defeated.
Despair tokens track the number of weeks that have passed during a
game. Additionally, the number of despair tokens on the board has
some game effects.
†† If there are number of damage tokens on Dracula’s character
sheet equal to his health value, he is defeated and the hunters
immediately win the game.
†† A hunter is defeated when either there are a number of damage
tokens on his character sheet equal to or exceeding his health
value or if he is bitten and has no empty bite spaces on his
character sheet.
†† When a hunter is defeated, the influence track is advanced by
two plus the number of despair tokens on the time track.
†† After a hunter is defeated, the influence track is advanced by
two plus the number of despair tokens on the time track.
†† If Dracula plays “Escape as Mist” or “Escape as Bat” before he
has played a number of combat cards greater than the number
of despair tokens on the time track, the card is canceled.
†† When the time marker advances from Sunday night to Monday
day, place one despair token on the space in the center of the time
track. Also, Dracula gains one rumor token.
†† If all three despair tokens are on the time track when Dracula
chooses a city location card, advance the influence track by
three.
6
Related Topics: Combat, Defeated, Rumor Tokens
Dracula Errors
If a player discovers that Dracula has committed an error (e.g., moved
between two cities that are not connected by a road or if he is unable to
make a legal move when placing a card on the trail during the Dracula
phase), Dracula suffers a penalty by following these steps:
1.
2.
3.
1.
Place Encounter Card: Dracula chooses an encounter card
from his hand and places it facedown on top of the hideout on
the first space of the trail.
2.
Dracula clears all hideouts on the trail, leaving his current
location on the first space of the trail if it was not already there.
†† Dracula cannot resolve an encounter step if he played a sea
Dracula suffers 5 damage.
Dracula Phase
The Dracula phase occurs after all hunters have had an opportunity to
perform actions at night. Dracula’s phase is composed of a movement
step and an encounter step.
Movement Step
Dracula resolves his movement step as follows:
Slide Hideouts: Dracula slides all hideouts one space along
the trail in the direction of the arrows.
»» When a hideout slides off the sixth space of the trail, Dracula
must either mature that hideout or convert it to a lair.
2.
Dracula resolves his encounter step as follows:
Dracula reveals his current location.
Related Topics: Hidden Information, Movement, The Trail
1.
Encounter Step
Place Rumor Token: Dracula may place a rumor token on
any of the encounter cards in the first three spaces of the trail.
location card, a city location card that contains one or more
hunters, the “Dark Call” power card, or the “Feed” power card
during his movement step.
Related Topics: Adjacency, Dracula Errors, Encounter Cards,
Hideouts, Rumor Tokens, The Trail
Dracula’s Current Location
Dracula’s current location refers to the location on the board that
Dracula currently occupies.
†† The leftmost location card on the trail is Dracula’s current
location. This is typically the hideout on the first space of the
trail. The “Hide,” “Dark Call,” and “Feed” power cards are
ignored when determining Dracula’s current location.
†† While Dracula’s current location is not revealed, Dracula’s
figure is placed on the space above the first space of the trail.
†† When Dracula’s current location is revealed, Dracula’s figure is
Choose Card: Dracula secretly chooses either a location
card or a power card from his location deck and places it on
the trail.
†† If Dracula chooses a location card, he must be able to move to
the location that corresponds to the chosen card while obeying
the rules for moving by either road or sea.
»» If Dracula’s current location is a city, he can choose a location
card of an adjacent city.
»» If Dracula’s current location is a port, he can also choose a
location card of an adjacent sea zone.
»» If Dracula’s current location is a sea zone, he can choose a
location card of either an adjacent sea zone or an adjacent
port.
†† If Dracula chooses a city that contains one or more hunters, he
plays that card faceup and does not place an encounter during
the encounter step.
†† If Dracula chooses a power card, he follows the specific
instructions for playing that power card.
†† If Dracula cannot play a card, he has committed an error and
suffers the penalty.
placed on that location of the board.
Related Topics: Reveal, The Trail
Encounter Cards
Dracula uses encounter cards to hinder the hunters or advance the
influence track.
†† Dracula places encounter cards on the trail during the
encounter step of the Dracula phase.
†† Encounter cards cannot be placed on sea zones, “Dark Call,”
“Feed,” or “Misdirect.”
†† Encounter cards remain facedown until they are either revealed
or discarded.
†† All encounter cards have an effect, and some encounter cards
have a matured effect.
»» Dracula can resolve an encounter card’s effect when he
ambushes a hunter.
»» If a hunter performs a search action in a hideout or lair that
has one or more encounter cards, Dracula must resolve an
encounter card’s effect, ignoring the matured effect. If there
are multiple encounter cards in that location, the hunters
choose the order in which they are resolved.
»» When Dracula matures a hideout that slid off the sixth
space of the trail, he can resolve the matured effect on any
encounter cards in that hideout.
7
†† If Dracula ever has fewer than five encounter cards in his hand,
†† When a character receives an event card, he must read the
†† Dracula can have more than five encounter cards in his hand.
†† If a player draws an event card that would cause him to exceed
he draws cards from the top of his encounter deck until he has
five encounter cards in his hand.
†† After a hideout is converted to a lair, Dracula places an
encounter card on that lair.
†† A hideout or lair can contain multiple encounter cards.
Related Topics: Ambush, Hideouts, Maturing, Vampire Encounters,
Winning the Game
Escape as Bat
“Escape as Bat” is a Dracula combat card.
When resolving “Escape as Bat,” the combat ends immediately. Then,
Dracula may choose a location card of a city that is up to two roads
away from his current location. If he does, he clears the hideout and
places the chosen location card and the “Escape as Bat” card on the first
space of the trail. If he does not, he stays at the same location.
†† The roads that connect Dracula’s current location to the chosen
location cannot connect to a city with a consecrated ground or
heavenly host token.
†† If Dracula plays “Escape as Bat” before he has played a
number of combat cards greater than the number of despair
tokens on the time track, the card is canceled.
†† If Dracula plays “Escape as Bat” during a vampire encounter,
the combat ends, but neither Dracula nor the vampire
encounter card are moved.
†† While “Escape as Bat” is part of a hideout, it has no effect. It
serves as a reminder that this card was played to move to this
location, and reduces the number of “Escape as Bat” cards in
Dracula’s combat deck until it is cleared or slides off the sixth
space of the trail.
Related Topics: Combat, Despair Tokens, Vampire Encounters
Escape as Mist
“Escape as Mist” is a Dracula combat card.
†† If Dracula plays “Escape as Mist” before he has played a
number of combat cards greater than the number of despair
tokens on the time track, the card is canceled.
Related Topics: Combat, Despair Tokens, Vampire Encounters
Event Cards
Event cards provide both hunters and Dracula with helpful allies and
abilities.
†† Each event card provides timing text that describes when the
card can be played.
†† Dracula and Dr. John Seward can have up to four event cards
8
in their hands. Each other hunter can have up to three event
cards in his hand.
timing of when the card can be played. If it does not say play
immediately, he places the card in his hand of event cards.
his hand limit, he may play one or more of his event cards
obeying the card’s timing text. Then, he must discard down to
his hand limit.
†† Some event cards have an “Ally” effect. Players can choose to
either play those cards immediately for an effect or as an ally,
which remains in the play area and provides an ongoing effect.
†† The event card discard pile can contain both faceup and
facedown cards as Dracula event cards discarded from the top
of the event deck are facedown.
†† Event cards that are played or removed from a player’s hand
are discarded faceup.
†† Event cards that are removed from the top of the event deck
during a supply action are discarded facedown.
†† Some event cards require an action to play. To play these event
cards, a hunter must perform an event action during either day
or night.
Related Topics: Allies, Hidden Information, Supply
Feed
“Feed” is one of Dracula’s power cards.
When “Feed” is placed on the trail, Dracula recovers three damage.
†† “Feed” is placed on the trail instead of choosing a
location card.
†† Encounter cards cannot be placed on “Feed.”
†† While Dracula’s current location is a sea zone, Dracula cannot
play “Feed.”
Related Topics: Damage, Power Cards, The Trail
Fog Tokens
Dracula’s “Fog” encounter card allows him to place one or two fog
tokens on the board.
†† Dracula must place fog tokens in a city, and if he places two fog
tokens, they must both be played in the same city.
†† At dawn or dusk, if Dracula is in a city with a hunter and a fog
token, Dracula can choose to not start a combat with that hunter.
†† A hunter cannot move into or out of a city that has a
fog token.
†† A hunter cannot perform a search action in a city that has a fog
token.
†† At the end of dusk, Dracula must remove one fog token from
the board.
Related Topics: Encounter Cards, Locations
Great Strength
“Great Strength” is a hunter event card.
†† If Dracula resolves “Fangs” on a mesmerized hunter at night,
“Great Strength” prevents the player from gaining the bite
token and being defeated. However, the influence track is still
advanced.
†† When damage is prevented, none of that damage is suffered.
Related Topics: Bitten, Damage, Event Cards
Heavenly Host
See “Consecrated Ground.”
Hidden Information
Fury of Dracula is a game about hidden information, deception,
and team work. Hunters are encouraged to discuss strategies and share
information, obeying the following rules:
†† All players can search through any discard pile at any time.
However, facedown event cards in the event discard pile cannot
be turned faceup and must remain hidden.
†† When resolving the matured effect of the “Hoax” encounter
card, Dracula can look at the facedown Dracula event cards in
the discard pile.
†† Hunters can talk freely and disclose any information about their
cards. However, Dracula must be able to hear all discussions,
and any information shared among hunters must also be shared
with Dracula.
†† Players participating in a trade action, or using Van Helsing’s
“Leader” ability, can discuss strategies, share information, and
view each other’s cards in private without Dracula hearing what
is discussed or seeing what is shown.
Related Topics: Dracula Errors, Encounter Cards
Hide
“Hide” is one of Dracula’s power cards that allows him to remain on a
location.
When “Hide” is placed on the trail, it is associated with the leftmost
location card on the trail (usually the second space of the trail). These
two cards remain associated until the location card is removed from the
trail.
†† When a hunter ends a move in the associated location, or
otherwise reveals that card, “Hide” is also revealed.
†† When “Hide” slides off the sixth space of the trail, Dracula
cannot resolve the matured effect of any encounter cards in it.
†† “Hide” can be used with “Wolf Form.”
†† A hunter who is in the location associated with “Hide” can be
ambushed by any number of encounter cards from both the
hideout at that location, and encounter cards in the hideout
with “Hide.”
†† If the associated location card is removed from the trail, the
encounter cards in a hideout with “Hide” cannot be searched
and Dracula cannot ambush hunters with those cards.
†† “Hide” is placed on the trail instead of choosing a
location card.
†† When Dracula plays “Hide,” he places an encounter card
during the encounter step as though he had chosen a location
card.
†† While Dracula’s current location is a sea zone, he cannot play
“Hide.”
Related Topics: Misdirect, Power Cards, The Trail
Hideouts
A hideout is all cards and tokens that exist on a single space of
the trail.
†† When Dracula places a location card or a power card on an
empty space of the trail, he has created a hideout.
†† When a hideout slides along the trail during the Dracula phase,
all cards and tokens that comprise that hideout slide together.
†† Dracula can look at the cards in a hideout at any time.
†† If any cards in a hideout are revealed, they remain faceup until
they are returned to a deck or hand.
†† After a hunter is moved to a hideout, Dracula reveals the
location card in that hideout and may ambush the hunter.
†† During the movement step of the Dracula phase, when a
hideout slides off the sixth space of the trail, Dracula must
either mature that hideout or convert it to a lair.
†† If a hideout is cleared, the location card is returned to the
location deck, any encounter cards are discarded, and, if there
is a rumor token, it is placed in the token pool.
Related Topics: Ambush, Lairs, Maturing, Reveal, The Trail
Hospitals
There are three hospitals on the board. Each hospital is attached to one
of the following cities: Madrid, Rome, or Budapest.
†† Characters cannot move to a hospital space.
†† When a hunter is defeated, he is placed on the nearest hospital
space at the next dawn.
†† While on a hospital space, the only actions a hunter may
perform are a modified version of either the supply or move
action, as follows:
»» Supply: The hunter may perform a supply action to draw
one item card. He always draws one item card but cannot
draw an event card.
»» Move: The hunter may move from the hospital to the city
attached to that hospital.
9
†† For the purposes of game rules and effects, if a hunter is in
a hospital space, he is adjacent to and not in the location
attached to that hospital.
»» A hunter on a hospital space cannot participate in a combat
or be affected by encounter or event cards that are in the
attached city.
»» If a hunter is on a hospital space, he is not in that city to
participate in trade actions, be used with Mina’s “Psychic
Bond” ability, or the “Blood Transfusion” or “Hypnosis”
event cards.
»» If a hunter is in a hospital space that is attached to a hideout
or lair, Dracula does not reveal that location card.
Related Topics: Actions, Adjacency, Defeated, Locations
Lairs
A lair is any group of cards and tokens that exist in one of the three lair
slots to the side of the trail.
†† When a hideout slides off the sixth space of the trail, Dracula
must either mature that hideout or convert it to a lair.
»» To convert a hideout to a lair, Dracula places that hideout on
one of the three lair slots on the board.
»» If there are already three lairs, Dracula may clear a lair to
create room for a new one.
»» Lairs are only converted from hideouts that have slid off the
sixth space of the trail.
»» When a hideout is converted to a lair, Dracula places an
encounter card facedown from his hand on the lair.
†† After a hunter is moved to a lair, Dracula reveals the location
Each city and sea zone on the board is a location. Locations cards on
the trail and on lair slots are associated with cities and sea zones on the
board.
†† Castle Dracula is a location that functions like a city for the
purposes of movement.
†† Hospitals are thematically part of a location, but are not treated
as locations for the purposes of game rules and effects.
†† If a hunter is in a location that corresponds to a location card
in a hideout or lair, that hunter is treated as being in the same
location as all the tokens and cards in that hideout or lair.
†† A hunter is “in a location with an encounter card” if that
encounter card is in a hideout or lair with a location card that
corresponds to the location that the hunter occupies.
Related Topics: Castle Dracula, Hospitals, Regions
Maturing
When a hideout slides off the sixth space of the trail, Dracula must
either mature that hideout or convert it to a lair.
†† When Dracula matures a hideout that slid off the sixth space
of the trail, he reveals and resolves the matured effect on any
number of encounter cards that are in that matured hideout.
Then, all encounter cards from the matured encounter are
discarded.
†† After resolving all matured effects, Dracula clears the hideout.
He returns any damage tokens in that hideout to the token
pool, removes any rumor tokens in that hideout from the game,
and returns any location or power card in the hideout to the
location deck.
card in that lair and may ambush the hunter.
Related Topics: Encounter Cards, Hideouts, Lairs, The Trail
»» If a lair has no encounter cards in it, Dracula clears the lair.
Mesmerize
†† During the movement step of the Dracula phase, Dracula can
move to a lair following normal movement rules.
»» If Dracula moves to a lair, he converts the lair to a hideout
by taking the lair from its lair slot and placing it on the first
space of the trail. (Dracula does this instead of placing a
location card from his location deck on the trail.)
»» After converting a lair to a hideout, Dracula still resolves his
encounter step by placing a facedown encounter card from
his hand on that hideout.
†† When Dracula clears a lair, he places all encounter cards from
that lair in the encounter card discard pile. Then, he returns
any damage and rumor tokens in that lair to the token pool,
and returns the location card in that lair to the location deck.
Related Topics: Hideouts, The Trail
10
Locations
“Mesmerize” is a Dracula combat card.
†† If Dracula is in a combat with multiple hunters, only the
engaged hunter becomes Mesmerized until the end of combat.
†† If a hunter is Mesmerized more than once, there is no
additional effect.
Related Topics: Combat
Misdirect
“Misdirect” is one of Dracula’s power cards, and it allows Dracula to
sow confusion about the trail.
When “Misdirect” is placed on the trail, Dracula chooses a hideout
on the trail. He clears that hideout from its trail space and places the
“Misdirect” card on that space.
†† When Dracula plays “Misdirect,” the chosen hideout cannot
contain Castle Dracula, a power card, or the location associated
with “Hide.”
Related Topics: Power Cards
Movement
Movement is the method by which hunters and Dracula move to
locations on the board. Hunters can move by road, railway, or sea.
Dracula can move by road or by sea, but he cannot move by railway.
†† A hunter’s current location is where his figure is on the board.
When the hunter moves, he physically moves his figure to the
new location.
†† Dracula’s current location is the leftmost location card on
the trail, which is typically the hideout on the first space of the
trail. When Dracula moves, he secretly chooses one card from
his location deck that corresponds to an adjacent location and
places it facedown on the first space of the trail.
†† Dracula’s figure remains near the first space of the trail until
Dracula’s current location is revealed, at which point he places
his figure on that location of the board.
†† Hunters can only perform move actions during the day.
Road
Sea
†† When a character moves by sea, he can move from a port to an
adjacent sea zone, from a sea zone to an adjacent sea zone, or
from a sea zone to an adjacent port.
†† Cities along the coastline have anchor icons, denoting them as
ports. A port is adjacent to the sea zone in which its anchor icon
appears.
†† Caglairi has two anchor icons, making it adjacent to both the
Mediterranean Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea.
†† Two sea zones are adjacent if they share a border.
†† A hunter can move by sea only during the day.
†† If a hunter is in a sea zone during the day, he must move by
sea—he cannot pass.
†† If a hunter is in a sea zone during the night, he must pass—he
cannot perform an action.
†† If a hunter is in a sea zone that is a hideout, Dracula does not
reveal that location card.
†† When Dracula moves from a port to a sea zone, he suffers two
damage.
†† When Dracula moves from a sea zone to a sea zone, he suffers
one damage.
†† While Dracula’s current location is a sea zone, he cannot play
“Feed,” “Dark Call,” or “Hide.” He can play “Misdirect” as
normal, and he can play “Wolf Form” to move to an adjacent
port or a city one road away from an adjacent port.
†† While Dracula’s current location is a sea zone, he does not
place an encounter card during the encounter step.
Related Topics: Adjacency, Locations, Movement
†† To move by road, the character moves to an adjacent city.
Railway
†† To move by railway, a hunter must spend a ticket token,
returning it from his play area facedown to the supply and then
mixing the ticket token pool.
†† After spending a ticket token, the hunter can move to a city that
is up to a number of railways away from his current location
equal to the number on the spent ticket token.
†† Train tickets have white and yellow values.
»» If a hunter moves using only white railways, he must use the
white values on ticket tokens to determine the distance he
can move.
»» If a hunter moves using only yellow railways or a
combination of white and yellow railways, he must use the
yellow values on ticket tokens to determine the distance he
can move.
†† When a hunter moves by railway, he does not move into any of
Power Cards
Power cards allow Dracula to move in unique ways, recover damage, or
draw additional encounter cards.
†† Dracula has five power cards that he can place on the trail
instead of a location card during his movement step: “Dark
Call,” “Misdirect,” “Feed,” “Hide,” and “Wolf Form.” Two
of these cards, “Wolf Form” and “Misdirect,” also instruct
Dracula to place a location card.
†† Power cards should be kept with the location cards for ease of
use and to disguise when Dracula uses the “Hide” card.
†† Power cards cannot become lairs.
†† Dracula cannot choose a power card instead of a location card
during setup.
†† Like location cards, power cards cannot be used again until they
slide off the sixth space of the trail.
Related Topics: Hideouts, The Trail
the locations he passes through.
11
Regions
Rest
A region is a group of contiguous cities that are in a colored section
of the map on the board. Some game effects, such as Mina Harker’s
“Psychic Bond” ability, reference regions.
If a hunter performs a rest action, he recovers one damage.
The regions are based on the geopolitical situation of 1898, and are
named as follows:
†† If a hunter performs an rest action in the same city as Dr. John
Seward, he recovers two damage instead of one.
†† Dr. John Seward always recovers two damage when he
performs a rest action.
Related Topics: Actions, Damage
1
Reveal
4
6
3
2
Some game effects reveal cards to all players.
†† When a card in a hideout or lair is revealed, that card remains
faceup until that hideout or lair is cleared or matured.
7
5
†† When a card is revealed from a player’s hand, it is shown to all
players and then returned to the player’s hand.
†† A weakened hunter must play with one event and one item
card revealed at all times (except during combat).
1.
Brittanica
5.
Italia
2.
Iberia
6.
Austro-Hungaria
3.
Gallia
7.
Baltica
4.
Germania
Related Topics: Locations
»» The revealed item card is placed on the item slot at the top of
a hunter’s character sheet. The revealed event card is placed
on the item slot at the bottom of a hunter’s character sheet.
»» A hunter may change which of his cards are revealed at
any time.
»» If a hunter is instructed to reveal a card for an effect, he can
use the card that is revealed from being weakened.
Reserve a Ticket
Related Topics: Combat, Dracula’s Current Hideout, Hideouts,
Lairs, Weakened
As an action, a hunter can reserve a ticket. To reserve a ticket, a hunter
draws one of the facedown ticket tokens from the supply, looks at it, and
places it in his play area.
Roadblock Tokens
†† A hunter needs a ticket to move by railway.
†† A hunter can look at the facedown side of his ticket tokens at
any time.
†† After drawing a ticket token, a hunter can choose to keep it or
discard it.
†† Each hunter can only have two ticket tokens at a time.
»» If a hunter already has two ticket tokens and performs a
reserve a ticket action, he must first discard one of his two
existing ticket tokens before drawing a new one.
Related Topics: Actions, Movement, Trade
Dracula’s “Roadblock” event card and “Saboteur” encounter card
allow him to place roadblock tokens on the board, which prevent
hunters from using specific roads or railways.
†† Each roadblock token has two sides. One side is used for
blocking roads and one side is used for blocking railways.
†† Hunters cannot move using a road or railway that has a
roadblock token.
†† At the end of dusk, Dracula must remove one roadblock token
of his choice from the board.
†† When Dracula places a roadblock token, it is placed on top of a
single road or railway.
†† When placing multiple roadblock tokens at the same time,
Dracula can place them in any combination of roads and
railways.
Related Topics: Adjacency, Event Cards, Locations, Movement
12
Rumor Tokens
Supply
Rumor tokens allow Dracula to increase the amount of influence he
gains when he matures a vampire encounter card.
When a hunter performs a supply action, he draws an event card and
possibly an item card.
†† Dracula begins the game with one rumor token.
†† Each time a despair token is placed on the board, Dracula gains
one rumor token.
†† During Dracula’s encounter step, after Dracula places an
encounter card, he can place a rumor token in a hideout in one
of the first three spaces of the trail.
»» Each hideout or lair can contain a maximum of only one
rumor token.
†† If Dracula resolves the matured effect of a vampire encounter
card and that hideout has a rumor token on it, the influence
track is advanced by an additional three spaces.
†† After a hideout is cleared, or if a lair is discarded, any rumor
token on that hideout or lair is returned to the token pool.
Related Topics: Despair Tokens, Hideouts, Maturing, The Trail,
Vampire Encounters
Search
The search action allows a hunter to reveal Dracula’s encounter cards
that are in hideouts or lairs.
†† When a hunter performs a search action, Dracula must reveal
any encounter cards that are not already revealed from the
hideout or lair the hunter currently occupies. Then, he resolves
the text on that encounter card, ignoring any matured effect, in
the order of the hunter’s choice.
†† Hunters cannot search in a city that has a fog token.
Related Topics: Encounter Cards, Fog Tokens, Hideouts, Lairs
Storm Tokens
Dracula’s “Stormy Sea” event card allows him to place three storm
tokens on the board.
†† Dracula must place each of the storm tokens on different
sea zones.
†† If the hunter is on a large city, he draws an item card from the top
of the item deck and puts the card into his hand of item cards.
†† During the day, if the top card of the event deck shows a hunter
icon, he draws it. If the top card of the event deck shows a
Dracula icon, it is discarded facedown.
†† During the night, he takes the bottom card of the event deck. If
it shows a hunter icon, he draws it; if it shows a Dracula icon,
Dracula draws it.
†† Some event cards have effects that can only be played
immediately. So, when a player draws an event card, he must
read it.
Related Topics: Actions, Event Cards
Trade
The trade action allows two hunters to trade item cards and ticket
tokens and privately share information with each other.
†† When a hunter performs a trade action, he chooses another
hunter in the same city as him. The two hunters can show each
other their item cards and ticket tokens and give any of those
cards and tokens to each other.
»» When a hunter performs a trade action, he and the other
hunter who is part of that trade action can trade cards in
secret and communicate in private, without Dracula seeing
those cards or hearing that conversation.
»» A hunter cannot perform a trade actions if he is in a sea zone.
†† The “Leader” ability on Van Helsing’s character sheet allows
him to trade with a hunter who is in any city.
»» When using his “Leader” ability, Van Helsing can choose
to trade with any hunter in any city on the board. The two
hunters can share information as normal; however, they
can only trade event cards. They cannot trade item cards or
ticket tokens.
Related Topics: Actions, Event Cards, Hidden Information, Locations
†† A hunter cannot move into a sea zone with a storm token on it,
but Dracula can.
†† At the end of dusk, Dracula must remove one storm token of
his choice from the board.
Related Topics: Event Cards, Movement
13
The Trail
†† Mina is permanently weakened. She is treated as always having
a bite token, even after she is defeated.
The trail consists of the six spaces on the board that Dracula uses to
track his movement and place encounter cards. Some rules and card
effects reference the spaces of the trail by number. The spaces are
referenced first through sixth starting with the leftmost space.
»» The bite token space on Mina’s character sheet has an image
of a bite token to represent her permanently weakened
status.
»» Mina is defeated each time she is bitten as she has no empty
bite spaces on her character sheet.
»» Mina must always play with one of her item and one of her
1
2
3
4
5
6
Related Topics: Hideouts, Lairs, Maturing, Movement
Vampire Encounters
Combat with a vampire can be initiated from Dracula’s “New
Vampire” and “Reckless Vampire” encounter cards. The rules in this
section apply only to vampire encounters; when the word “Dracula” is
used, it is referring to the Dracula player.
†† If a hunter either resolves a search action or is ambushed in a
hideout or lair and an encounter card is revealed that reads,
“fight this vampire,” a combat occurs.
†† Combat against vampires uses the same rules as combat against
Dracula with the following exceptions:
»» “New Vampire” and “Reckless Vampire” encounter cards
have their own health values. When one of these vampires
suffers damage, it is tracked on the card using damage
tokens. If a vampire has a number of damage tokens on its
card equal to or greater than its health value, that vampire is
defeated.
»» When a vampire is defeated, its encounter card is discarded.
If combat ends without the vampire being defeated, the
damage it suffered remains on the card.
†† If Dracula plays “Escape as Mist” or “Escape as Bat” before he
has played a number of combat cards greater than the number
of despair tokens on the time track, the card is canceled.
»» If Dracula resolves “Escape as Bat,” combat ends, but
neither Dracula nor the vampire are moved from their
current locations.
Related Topics: Combat, Encounter Cards
Weakened
A hunter with one or more bite tokens is weakened.
†† A weakened hunter must play with one of his item cards and
event cards revealed (except during combat).
Related Topics: Bitten, Reveal
Winning the Game
Players win the game in the following ways:
†† Dracula wins the game by advancing the influence track to
space “13.”
»» If Dracula is defeated at the same time that he has 15
damage tokens on his character sheet, the hunters win the
game.
»» During combat with multiple hunters, if the influence track
is advanced to space “13” and Dracula would be defeated
during a later step of that combat, Dracula wins.
†† Dracula can advance the influence track in several ways, as
follows:
»» Maturing a vampire encounter card increases the track by
three, four, or five, depending on the card.
»» Resolving the “Fangs” combat card advances the track by
one.
»» Defeating a hunter advances the track by two, plus one for
each despair token on the board.
Related Topics: Combat, Damage, Defeated, Despair Tokens
Wolf Form
“Wolf Form” is one of Dracula’s power cards, and it allows him to
change into a wolf who moves quickly through the countryside.
When “Wolf Form” is placed on the trail, Dracula suffers two damage
and moves to a city that is up to two roads away from his current
location. “Wolf Form” is placed along on the trail with the location
card of the city he moved to.
†† If a location card with “Wolf Form” becomes a lair, “Wolf
Form” is returned to the location deck.
one of his event cards revealed.
†† “Wolf Form” can be played with “Hide.”
»» A hunter places his revealed item card faceup on the card
†† When Dracula plays “Wolf Form,” he still places an encounter
slot at the top of his character sheet; he places his revealed
event card on the card slot at the bottom of his character
sheet.
»» A hunter can change which cards are revealed at any time.
card during the encounter step.
†† While Dracula’s current location is a sea zone, he may use
“Wolf Form” to move to either an adjacent port or a city one
road away from an adjacent port.
Related Topics: Power Cards, The Trail
14
Index
A
Actions............................................................................ 3
Activation Order............................................................. 3
Adjacency........................................................................ 3
Advanced Setup.............................................................. 2
Allies................................................................................ 3
Ambush........................................................................... 3
B
Banners........................................................................... 4
Bats Token....................................................................... 4
Bitten............................................................................... 4
C
Cancel............................................................................. 4
Castle Dracula................................................................. 4
Clear............................................................. See Hideouts
Combat........................................................................... 4
Consecrated Ground....................................................... 5
D
Damage........................................................................... 5
Dark Call......................................................................... 6
Dawn and Dusk.............................................................. 6
Defeated.......................................................................... 6
Delayed........................................................................... 6
Despair Tokens................................................................ 6
Dracula Errors................................................................ 7
Dracula Phase................................................................. 7
Dracula’s Current Location............................................ 7
Dusk..................................................See Dawn and Dusk
E
H
Heavenly Host................................................................. 9
Hidden Information........................................................ 9
Hide................................................................................ 9
Hideouts.......................................................................... 9
Hospitals.......................................................................... 9
I
Influence Track............................See Winning the Game
L
Lairs.............................................................................. 10
Locations....................................................................... 10
Lucy’s Revenge....................................See Great Strength
M
Maturing....................................................................... 10
Mesmerize..................................................................... 10
Misdirect....................................................................... 10
Movement..................................................................... 11
P
Power Cards.................................................................. 11
R
Railway..................................................... See Movement
Regions.......................................................................... 12
Reserve a Ticket............................................................ 12
Reveal............................................................................ 12
Roadblock Tokens......................................................... 12
Roads........................................................ See Movement
Rumor Tokens............................................................... 13
S
Encounter Cards............................................................. 7
Escape as Bat................................................................... 8
Escape as Mist................................................................. 8
Event Cards..................................................................... 8
Search............................................................................ 13
Sea Zones.................................................. See Movement
Storm Tokens................................................................ 14
Supply........................................................................... 13
F
T
Feed................................................................................. 8
Fight...............................................................See Combat
Fog Token........................................................................ 8
The Trail....................................................................... 14
Trade..........................................See Hidden Information
G
Vampire Encounters..................................................... 14
Great Strength................................................................ 9
V
W
Weakened...................................................................... 14
Winning the Game........................................................ 14
Wolf Form..................................................................... 14
15
Quick Reference
Hunter Actions
†† Move: Move by road, railway, or sea.
»» Move by road from a city to an adjacent city.
»» Move by railway by spending a ticket token and moving
to a city using either the white number if using just white
railways or the yellow number if using just yellow or a
combination of yellow and white railways.
Combat Rounds
Combat is resolved over a series of rounds. Each round has eight steps
that occur in the following order:
1.
2.
»» Move by sea to go from a port to a sea zone or to go from a
sea zone to an adjacent sea zone or port.
†† Reserve a Ticket: Draw a ticket token from the token pool.
A hunter can have up to two ticket tokens.
3.
4.
†† Rest: Recover one damage.
†† Search: If in a hideout or lair, reveal and resolve any
encounter cards there.
†† Special: Resolve an effect on an event card or an ability on a
character sheet that needs to be played as an action.
†† Supply: If it is day, draw a hunter event card or discard a
Dracula event card from the top of the deck. If it is night, take
the card on the bottom of the event deck and draw it or give it
to Dracula, as appropriate. If in a large city, draw an item card
before drawing an event card.
†† Trade: Choose a hunter in the same location. Then, secretly
5.
6.
7.
8.
trade event cards with that hunter.
Choose Combat Cards: All players in the combat choose
cards to play.
Choose Engaged Hunter: If there are multiple hunters in
the combat, Dracula chooses one hunter to be the engaged
hunter.
Reveal Combat Cards: All chosen cards are revealed.
Compare Combat Icons: If the combat icon on Dracula’s
chosen card matches a highlighted combat icon on the
engaged hunter’s chosen card, Dracula’s chosen card is
canceled.
Resolve Dracula’s Effect: If Dracula’s chosen card is not
canceled, he resolves its effect.
Resolve Hunter’s Effect: Resolve the effect on each
hunter’s chosen card.
Check Combat Status: Check to see if the combat has
ended.
Refresh Hands: Dracula and each hunter refreshes his hand
to prepare for the next combat round.
Round Summary
Combat Icons
Hunter Phase
There are seven combat icons that appear on combat cards and item
cards. Each icon thematically matches the effect of the card on which the
icon appears. The seven combat icons are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Dawn: The time marker advances on the time track and
combat occurs if one or more hunters are in the same location
as Dracula.
Day: Each hunter performs one action in activation order.
Dusk: The time marker advances on the time track and
combat occurs if one or more hunters are in the same location
as Dracula.
Night: Each hunter performs one action in activation order.
Hunters cannot perform move actions at night.
Dracula Phase
1.
2.
Movement Step: Dracula slides all cards on the trail. Then,
he chooses and plays either a location card or power card
from his location deck.
Encounter Step: Dracula places an encounter card on the
first space of the trail.
Fangs
Plotting
Escape as Bat
Escape as Mist
Strength
Claws
Mesmerize